Problem: Christopher earns a base salary of $100.00 every week with an additional 12% commission on everything he sells. If Christopher sold $5500.00 worth of items last week, what was his total salary?
Solution: First, find the amount of commission made by using the following formula: commission rate $\times$ total sales $=$ amount of commission made Since the commission rate is a percentage, we have to convert it into a decimal first. Percent means "out of one hundred," so $12\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{12}{100}$ which is also equal to $12 \div 100$ $12 \div 100 = 0.12$ Now you have all the information you need to find the amount of commission made: $0.12$ $\times$ $$5500.00$ $=$ $$660.00$ We can find the total salary for Christopher by adding the amount of commission made to his base salary. amount of commission made $+$ base salary $=$ total salary $$660.00$ $+$ $$100.00$ $=$ $$760.00$ The total salary Christopher made last week was $$760.00$.